AEC Office
The decisions of the Council and the General Assembly are implemented by the AEC Office, which is located at Keltenlaan / Avenue des Celtes 20, 1040 Brussels, Belgium. The AEC Office consists of a core team of Chief Executive, General Manager, Events Manager and Office Manager, which is supplemented during major projects by dedicated project staff. The AEC Office also regularly welcomes student interns, who gain valuable experience during their placements as well as making an essential contribution to the smooth running of the Association.
Stefan Gies
Chief Executive
Stefan Gies, Professor of Music education at Hochschule für Musik Dresden and former Rector of this institution (2003-2010) became AEC Chief Executive in September 2015.
Born in 1954 in Landau, Stefan Gies is trained as a viola player (he performed e.g. in professional orchestras and as a member of an ensemble for contemporary music), as a composer, and in the fields of rock and jazz music. He worked as a classroom and instrumental teacher and got his doctorate degree in music pedagogy. Looking back to 30 years of teaching in higher music education institutions, Stefan has also written and edited educational materials and scientific publications, namely within the fields of cultural studies and philosophy of music education. Stefan is actively involved in AEC since 2007: he took part in the ‘Polifonia’ working group on accreditation in higher music education (2007-2010), in the AEC Quality Enhancement Committee (2011-2014) and is currently chairing the working group “Evaluation for Enhancement” within the FULL SCORE project. Stefan can be reached via email.
Linda Messas
General Manager
Linda joined the AEC in March 2007 as project administrator of the 'Accreditation in European Higher Music Education' project. She coordinated the ERASMUS Network for Music ‘Polifonia’ (2007-2010) and the AEC Institutional and Programme Review Scheme. Linda is General Manager since January 2011 and supports the CEO in managing the AEC Office. Linda also works for the new external evaluation body MusiQuE - Music Quality Enhancement. Linda has a Master in European Politics from the Institute of Political Sciences in Strasbourg. She is French, speaks English and some German and works hard on her Dutch. She can be reached via e-mail.
Sara Primiterra
Events Manager
Sara joined the AEC team in February 2009, first as an intern and then as project administrator for the Sida Project for the Western Balkans “Widening Participation on the Road to Membership”. She coordinated the European Students Chamber Orchestra Tour 2011 and in September 2010 she became the Office Manager of the AEC. Since November 2011 Sara has been the Events Manager of the AEC, being in charge of the organization of the AEC Annual Congress, the IRC Meeting and the thematic Platforms. She also represents the AEC at international meetings. Sara has got a Master of Science in Economics and Management of Arts and Culture at Bocconi Business University in Milan with a final dissertation on conservatories’ international relations. She was also trained as a musician and she got a violin degree at Conservatorio di Novara (Italy). Sara is Italian, speaks English, some French and Spanish and some Dutch. Her main fields of interest are: management of cultural and educational institutions, event management and international relations. She can be reached via e-mail.
Nerea López de Vicuña
Office Manager
Nerea joined the AEC team in October 2013 and works as Office Manager. She is Spanish and she speaks English, French, Italian and Basque. Nerea holds a Bachelor degree in History and a MA in Culture, Policy and Management at City University, London, where she specialized on Cultural Policy and fundraising in the Mediterranean area. After completing her Master, Nerea has worked in the cultural sector in Greece, Morocco and the Netherlands. She can be reached via e-mail.
Ángela Domínguez
Ángela joined the AEC team in October 2012 as an intern, in February 2013 she took over the coordination and later on the management for the third cycle of the ERASMUS Network for Music 'Polifonia'. She is Spanish and she speaks English, German and basic French. She studied in English Literature and Linguistics at the Complutense University of Madrid and she also holds a double Master degree in Euroculture from the Universities of Goettingen (Germany) and Deusto (Spain). Currently Angela monitors the progress of the FULL SCORE project and manages the AEC general communication. She can be reached via email.
Jef Cox
Jef joined the AEC team in January 2015, first as an intern and later as Project Coordinator. His work focuses primarily on activities relating to quality assurance and learning outcomes. Jef contributes as Policy Officer to the daily operation of MusiQuE – Music Quality Enhancement, the independent European evaluation body for higher music education, and regularly represents MusiQuE at events and meetings around Europe. He holds a Master’s degree in History and a Master’s degree in European Studies, both from the University of Leuven (Belgium). As a bassoonist and pianist, he has been closely involved in several orchestras and ensembles. Jef is Belgian, speaks Dutch and English, and is working to improve his French. He can be reached via email.
Tatiana Papastoitsi
AEC Intern
Tatiana joined the AEC team in January 2017. She completed her Master’s Degree in Musicology at the Ionian University, Corfu, Greece. As a student, she had some experience working in the Music Archives of the Hellenic Music Research Lab, Corfu, as well as the Athens Conservatoire, Greece. She had a fellowship in Germany as a Cultural Manager funded by Robert Bosch Stiftung and she has participated in projects funded by the European Commission in both European countries and partner countries of the EU. She is Greek and speaks English fluently and some German. She can be reached via email.